Chapter 567: The Lan Family’s Decision

After feeding Long Yi and his men doggie treats, Xu Shaochen took Liu Rushuang to have breakfast.

At the same time, Ye Changfei and Zhao Tianjia were not idle either.

Since they had decided to deal with the Lan Family, they naturally chose to strike first.

The Lan Family had been rooted in Yijing for many years, but no matter how strong they were, they could not withstand the combined forces of nine other families.

After all, not everyone is Xu Shaochen, and not everyone has the powerful Xu Corporation behind them.

Therefore, under the combined forces of the nine families—whoops, I mean the nine-star alignment—the Lan Family couldn’t gain any advantage.

The nine families acted overnight, using all their connections and resources to launch an attack on the Lan Family.

Moreover, Lan Guangming had just lost his son, so he was overwhelmed, and the Lan Family was in utter chaos.

The Lan Family’s living room was crowded.

“Guangming, you must take responsibility for this! If it weren’t for you, how would our Lan Family have ended up in this situation?”

“Exactly, Guangming. Now our Lan Family is being attacked by everyone. If you don’t make a decision soon, we might have to leave Yijing.”

“Third Brother, say something! You were the one who insisted on provoking Xu Shaochen. Can our Lan Family really compete with him?”

Everyone pointed their fingers at Lan Guangming. After all, he was the head of the entire Lan Family.

“Enough! All of you shut up!”

Lan Guangming’s veins bulged on his forehead as he shouted angrily, standing up abruptly.

Seeing him lose his temper, the once-noisy living room fell silent for a brief moment.

“Was this decision made by me alone? When you all heard about the profit from the special medicine, which one of you wasn’t eager, your eyes turning red with greed, huh?!”

“Now that something has gone wrong, you’re all pushing the responsibility onto me. What, am I supposed to take the fall alone? My son is dead! My only son is dead! Do you understand how I feel right now? Do you?!”

After venting his anger, Lan Guangming felt slightly better. He then softened his tone and said, “I will take responsibility for this situation. The Lan Family will not fall. You can leave now. I’ll notify you if there are any updates.”

Everyone looked at each other, then gradually shuffled out of the living room, one after another.

“Bang!”

“Crash—”

No sooner had they left, Lan Guangming began smashing things in the living room, seemingly trying to quell the anger burning inside him.

Right now, he wasn’t the most angry at Xu Shaochen.

It was his relatives in the family.

The enemy had only just begun to make their move, yet the Lan Family was already in disarray.

One after another, they stood on the moral high ground, condemning him as if all the mistakes were his own.

“A bunch of bastards! Why didn’t you object back then? Now you’re all eager to push the responsibility onto me. Screw you!”

“Huff… Huff…”

After venting his anger, Lan Guangming collapsed onto the sofa as if all the strength had drained from him. The living room was now a complete mess.

Meanwhile, the Lan family members did not disperse after leaving the main living room; instead, they drove to a teahouse and reserved a private room.

“Everyone, share your thoughts on this matter.”

An elderly man with white hair sat at the head of the table. He was the most senior member of the Lan Family who was still alive and held considerable influence within the clan.

Everyone looked at each other, knowing well what the others were thinking, but no one wanted to speak first.

“Alright, since you all want to save face, I, at my old age, don’t need to care about that. I’ll speak up.”

Seeing no one wanted to talk, the elderly man at the head broke the silence and said, “We can’t go on like this. The Lan Family may look mighty from the outside, but we know we’ve declined over the years. We’re not as strong as we used to be.”

“Guangming has lost both of his sons. He will not let this go easily. If I’m not mistaken, he probably intends to bet the entire Lan Family in a life-and-death struggle against Xu Shaochen.”

“His sons are dead, so he has no hope left. But what about us? We can’t follow him into madness; we still need to survive. We can’t just watch the Lan Family disappear. We’d have no face left to meet our ancestors after death.”

“Third Uncle is right. I agree. We can’t let Big Brother continue like this; the Lan Family can’t endure any more turmoil.”

“I agree, too. Guangming is clearly stuck in a dead-end. Frankly, if he doesn’t want to live anymore, he shouldn’t drag us down with him!”

“After all, it’s his own fault for not disciplining his sons. I’ve heard that his younger son offended Xu Shaochen in Jiangzhou. Otherwise, why would all this trouble have happened?”

Once the first person had spoken and revealed the truth, the others didn’t hold back. They all chimed in, echoing the sentiment.

One after another, they started listing Lan Guangming’s mistakes over the years, and as they continued, everyone began to grow angrier.

“Alright, since everyone is of the same mind, let’s do it. Sacrificing one Lan Guangming to save our Lan Family is worth it.”

“He should bear the consequences of his actions. It has nothing to do with us.”

With a few short words, they decided Lan Guangming’s fate.

“Old Two, you go see Xu Shaochen. Tell him that Lan Guangming no longer represents the Lan Family. His matters have nothing to do with us. We’re willing to hand over Lan Guangming and ask Xu to spare our Lan Family.”

The elderly man at the head of the table looked at a middle-aged man in a suit sitting on his lower left and spoke.

The middle-aged man bore some resemblance to Lan Guangming. His name was Lan Guanghui, and he was Lan Guangming’s younger brother.

If nothing unexpected happened, after Lan Guangming stepped down, he would become the new head of the Lan Family, so naturally, he was eager for this outcome.

Although Lan Guangming was the head of the Lan Family and the chairman of Lan Corporation, it did not mean the company belonged solely to him.

He merely held slightly more shares and happened to hold the chairman’s position.

The other members of the Lan Family were all shareholders and board members of the corporation. Together, they had enough shares to kick Lan Guangming out.

They felt no psychological burden over this decision.

To make it sound noble, they called it ‘cutting the tail to survive.’ Everything they were doing was for the sake of the Lan Family.

“It’s settled then. Send someone to keep an eye on Guangming. After Guanghui meets Xu Shaochen, we’ll convene a board meeting.”

A few minutes later, the Lan family members left the teahouse.

Lan Guanghui drove alone to Feiyun Villa to meet Xu Shaochen. As he drove, he hummed a cheerful tune, feeling exceptionally pleased.

He thought his life was set in stone, but who would have imagined that Lan Guangming’s own recklessness would make the position of family head within reach?